


Under the Weather

by eternitywrites



Series: Tumblr DMMd Secret Santa Fics [2]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Common Cold, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 23:34:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternitywrites/pseuds/eternitywrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba wakes up one morning at far below 100%.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Weather

**Author's Note:**

> My second of two Tumblr DMMd Secret Santa fics, this time for for [aobatoppingnoiz](aobatoppingnoiz.tumblr.com), whose [NoiAo headcanons](http://aobatoppingnoiz.tumblr.com/post/68345791310/this-is-a-long-frickkin-meme-more-one-of-your) are A++++ and her art gr8.

Aoba shivered, goosebumps flaring across his skin and rubbing uncomfortably against the blankets he had cocooned himself in. Still, he pulled them tighter to his body, frowning deeply.

“Noiz? D-did you leave the…window open?” The words came out quiet and hoarse, prickles of pain running down his throat in protest.

It really was too damn cold in their bedroom.

“…Noiz?”

No response. It took some shifting around to realize that the other side of the bed was empty. Maybe that was why he felt chilled to the bone.

Reluctantly, he freed an arm and slapped a hand around his nightstand until his fingers hit his Coil. Only when he had brought it close to his face did he crack his eyes open just wide enough for the digital numbers to become legible. For some reason, though he could see the time well enough, it took several slow, confused blinks for his mind to finally register its meaning.

It was just after nine. His German language class was at noon. He had set his alarm for nine-thirty, but since he was awake…

Aoba groaned and rolled over, pulling more blankets up as he did so. Something inside him refused to leave the bed, despite it being way too big without his boyfriend to share the space with him. All his limbs felt heavy and useless, and his muscles would twitch sporadically, sending a trembling wave down his body when he least expected it. Why the hell was it so cold? Last night hadn’t been nearly as bad as it was now.

The threat of missing the in-class quiz scheduled for today was what finally convinced him to untangle himself out of his blankets. He hadn’t even fully risen from the mattress when it felt as if all the blood poured out of his head in one fell swoop, stunning him momentarily with dizziness.

He did not consider it a good sign that his first mistake of the day was waking up.

Still, his sense of responsibility had him trudging to the bathroom. In between dejected sniffles, he wondered where Noiz had gone off to, more complicated thoughts  out of his reach. It felt less like he had a brain and more like a mass of steaming, wet cotton stuffed up the cavity in his skull.

Eventually, he made it to his destination. He didn’t really know what to do, however, besides turn around and hide under the covers until tomorrow. His normal morning routine eluded him.

Another shudder ran through him, reminding him of the cold aches that riddled his body. Hot water. Yes, hot water would be a good place to start. He cranked the hot sink tap as far as it would go and stuck his hands under the stream.

“Ah, this is so _nice_ ,” he sighed, bowing his head. It was probably too hot judging by the rapidly blossoming redness of his hands, but he didn’t care because relief was traveling steadily up his fingertips. If such a simple act felt this good, stripping out of his night clothes and getting into the shower would probably feel amazing, but the effort was definitely more than he could exert. Staying at the sink would be fine, all he needed was a chair to sit on while burning water doused his hands and distracted him from all his discomforts.

“Aoba?”

The voice shook him out of his stupor. He didn’t know how long he had been standing at the sink, just that at some point his posture had deteriorated until he was bent over, elbows resting on the lip of it as the water continued to rush out at its hottest temperature.

“I was about to wake you up,” said Noiz. “I made some coffee for — are you alright?”

“Uh.” Aoba couldn’t help but give another hard sniff to quell his leaking nose as he slowly straightened up. The automatic words “I’m fine” balanced at the tip of his tongue, but the more he forced his uncooperative mind to think about it, the more he noticed how particularly not fine he felt.

In fact, he was now fairly sure he was sick.

“Actually, I don’t really…” He trailed off, his too-sudden awareness of how disgusting his poor health made him feel rendering it difficult to articulate anything beyond that.

“Hey.” Noiz grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and spun him around. Aoba grimaced, especially when Noiz’s hands tilted his face up. Skin-to-skin contact just felt _gross_ , warring with how soothing Noiz’s fingers were.

“You’re too pale,” said Noiz. “And you’re shaking. What’s wrong?”

The unabashed concern on his face tugged at Aoba’s heartstrings even as he wiggled out of his grasp. “I’m kinda sick, Noiz. A fever, maybe? It’s fine, it’ll most likely go down in — ”

“It is _not_ fine.” Noiz placed his hands on Aoba’s shoulders again, and sat him on the lid of the toilet before squatting down in front of him, creasing the work shirt Aoba had carefully ironed for him the day before. His eyes were a little wide and his expression tight. “You look terrible. Does it hurt anywhere, Aoba?”

With a slight jolt of surprise, it occurred to Aoba that the look on his face was one of panic. He should have realized sooner that Noiz wouldn’t take it very well. Not that he thought Noiz was completely clueless when it came to what being ill entailed, but he highly doubted that Noiz had ever dealt with anyone else but himself being sick. Aoba immediately sought to calm him down.

“Well, I’m a bit sore all over and I’m really cold,” he said carefully between bouts of snuffling. “I know this looks pretty bad — ” _About as bad as he actually felt_ , his thoughts whispered dejectedly. “But it’s probably nothing that’s going to need serious attention.”

Judging by the look on Noiz’s face, he hadn’t been nearly as convincing as he had hoped. He blamed the scratchiness of his voice.

“Stay here,” he said, rising up. “I’m going to get your Allmate. Just…don’t move, okay?”

“I won’t.”

Noiz turned around, but as soon as he stepped through the door frame he froze, spun on his heel, and came back to where Aoba sat.

“What’s the matter?”

Noiz didn’t answer. He bent down and kissed him just above his eyebrow, then at his pounding temple, and finally pressed his mouth hard against his.

Aoba flailed, his lips clamped tightly together to prevent Noiz from sticking his tongue in. Noiz pulled back before he could recover enough to push him away and brushed his hand feather-light against the side of Aoba’s face.

“Good morning, Aoba.”

“Idiot!” Aoba covered his mouth with both hands in case Noiz launched a second assault. “You’re not supposed to kiss sick people! I could be contagious!”

Noiz simply shrugged. “I don’t care. We do this every morning,” he said, and walked out of the bathroom.

“Such a child,” Aoba muttered, glaring at Noiz's retreating back. He wanted to be irritated that Noiz would risk his health just for the sake of a good morning kiss, but the fact that he was bound and determined to uphold their daily ritual no matter what the circumstance was really…

Cute. It was too damn cute and Aoba was in no condition to stay mad at him.  
  
Shaking his head, more over how embarrassingly whipped he was when it came to Noiz than any other grievance, he reached over and shut the running sink faucet off. The hot water had been so good against his skin, but he didn’t want to concern Noiz even further by acting strange.

Noiz was quick to return. As soon as Aoba saw Ren at his side, he spread his arms out. His Allmate wagged his tail and jumped into his lap without hesitation, allowing Aoba to squeeze him to his chest.

“Good morning, Aoba.”

“‘Morning, Ren,” he replied, burying his face in soft fur. “I’m not feeling too great.”

“Do you even have the capability to figure out what’s wrong with Aoba?”

Aoba looked up at Noiz just in time to see some kind of odd expression flicker across his face, but it was gone as soon their eyes met.

“He’s not that old of a model,” Aoba said under his breath. Noiz didn’t respond, he simply leaned against the wall in front of Aoba, his body tensed as he waited.

Ren turned around in his grip until he faced Noiz. “My sensors are not as sophisticated as newer models, but I will do my best to gauge Aoba’s condition.”

“Hurry it up, then.”

“Noiz,” said Aoba in warning. Noiz glanced away from him.

“A slow climb in Aoba’s body temperature indicates he is currently suffering from a fever,” said Ren calmly. “I also detect the presence of an infection in the upper respiratory tract. The most common term for this affliction is a called a cold.”

“Thought as much.” Aoba ripped some toilet paper off the roller and pressed it to his nose.

“I hope you’re not planning on going to class like this.”

“Of course not,” said Aoba, though the thought of bearing it for the quiz had crossed his mind.

“Hm.” The sound indicated that Noiz didn’t quite believe him. Guess he knew him too well. “So…bed rest, then?” He bit his lip, and Aoba wondered if perhaps Noiz hadn’t been sick all that much in his life. “And you said you were in pain. Maybe we need medicine for that?”

“Medicine we don’t have,” he sighed as Noiz opened the mirrored cabinet above the sink. The only pill bottle that was there was his spare headache medicine from Granny, which he hoped he would never have to open again. “It’s one of those things I keep forgetting to buy.”

“I can give you a list of effective pain medication that would help ease most of your symptoms,” Ren offered.

“Thanks, Ren.” Aoba let his used tissue roll out of his hand and into the trashcan beside him. “Sorry about this, Noiz, but could you swing by the store during your lunch break and pick something up for me? I’ll just have to tough it out until you come back.”

“Don’t apologize.” He tucked some of Aoba’s hair behind his ear, then bent down and kissed him on the cheek dangerously close to his mouth. Goddammit. “You had your hands under the hot water because it felt nice, right?”

“Yeah, I was about to take a bath, actually,” he started to stand, but Noiz held up a hand.  
  
“I’ll do it. Do you want me to run the shower or the tub?”

“You don’t have to — ” But since Noiz was already up, looking at him expectantly, he decided it was best to conserve the last bits of his energy any way he can. “Eh, the shower. As much as I’d love to submerge myself I’d probably end up accidentally drowning in the tub.” He let Ren hop off his lap and got up from the toilet seat, shedding his nightshirt as he did so. His limbs were clumsy with weakness. Noiz was able to turn the water on in their spacious shower stall and come back to take him by the hand before Aoba had his boxers all the way off.

“I feel like an old man who lost his walker,” he grumbled, though he let Noiz guide him into the stall without a fuss.

“But you still look beautiful, anyway,” said Noiz easily. “Even with snot dripping out of your nose.”

Aoba shot him a look. “Please, you slay me with your flattery.”

“Wasn’t trying to flatter you.”

Whatever quip Aoba planned to respond with melted away when the spray of hot water drenched him. All he could utter was a dreamy sort of sound that made Noiz chuckle.

“Feel better?”

“Mm-hm.” He knew the relief would be temporary, but he planed to enjoy it while it lasted.

What jarred him out of his bliss was Noiz. Instead of closing the shower door, he was loosening his tie.

“Whoa, wait a sec. You can’t come in with me.”

Noiz tossed his tie on the towel rack and began to unbutton his shirt. “Why not? I can’t bathe you from out here.”

“I can handle that much by myself,” he insisted. “And you’ll be late for work!”

“It’s not about what you can or can’t handle right now,” said Noiz, his voice so soft Aoba barely caught his words. But then he raised his tone back to its normal volume. “You have a point, though. I guess.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready to go, then?” asked Aoba slowly.

“It _is_ about that time, isn’t it?” he drawled. He crooked a finger at him. Confused and unsuspecting, Aoba leaned forward. Noiz swooped in and gave him a quick peck right on the lips without getting himself wet.

“Quit it!” He quickly retreated further into the stall and shut the door between them.

“How mean, Aoba. Why are you in such a hurry to get away from me?”

“The kicked puppy look doesn’t work if you laugh while you talk,” Aoba snapped, turning around in the shower so that the spray hit his back. “And I don’t want to get away from you, I have to. If you keep acting like that we’re both going to get sick!”

“So what?” said Noiz. “I love you, Aoba.”

Aoba spluttered. This kid…even at the best of times it was hard to keep up with his pace. He turned his face away despite the glass having fogged up enough from the steam to obscure him almost completely. “L-love you, too, Noiz.”

He could only see an cloudy outline of Noiz’s frame at this point but he was certain the brat was wearing his most annoying smirk. “Stay in there for as long as you like. Just let me know when you’re out.”

“I’ll text you,” said Aoba as Noiz’s figure moved out of his view. “Good luck at work!”

He didn’t catch what Noiz said in reply. The sound of falling water must have reduced it to nothing more than a vague grunt. Aoba was too relaxed by the damp warmth cloaking him to ask for clarification.

“Ren?” he asked as he sat on the thick ledge built inside the shower. Most likely made for storing extra bath items close at hand, Noiz and Aoba had been shamefully quick to put it to more lewd uses soon after moving into the apartment.

“I’m here, Aoba. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, for now. Can you set a timer for twenty minutes?”

“Understood. Beginning countdown. I will notify you once twenty minutes have elapsed.”

“Thanks.” His eyelids were already fluttering shut, both against the spray and because they felt as if they were weighted down with bricks. He leaned back against the glass pane, his last coherent thought dwelling on how long it had been since he’d been this ill.

All too soon, he was jerked back into consciousness by a steady string of insistent barks, an alarm he used only as a last resort. His reflexive spasm sent water right up his nose.

“Do you need me to call for help, Aoba?” asked Ren, whose voice sounded very close. He must have been sitting right in front of the shower door.

“I-I’m fine,” he choked out, thinking that he’d almost rather have the inside of his throat rubbed against a cheese grater than continue on with such a torturous coughing fit.

It took a while to recover, and when he did he felt completely awake as well as fairly miserable, thanks in large part to the lukewarm water now pouring over his body. He got up and hastily rubbed body wash all over himself, before rinsing off and running a bit of shampoo through his soaked hair.

“How long was I out for?”

“Twenty-five minutes. You did not respond to my first attempt to wake you.”

Aoba was glad he skipped a soak in the tub. The probability of him actually drowning in it no longer seemed entirely like a joke. He shut off the water.

“Alright, I’m coming out.”

He opened the door, smiling a little when he noticed small paw print marks at the bottom of the glass. As soon as he stepped out, he was greeted by a chorus of excited squeaking.

“He’s out, he’s out!”

“Hi, guys.” A few of the Usagimodoki were bouncing near Ren, who had moved aside to avoid getting dripped on by Aoba. “Did Noiz leave you behind to keep an eye on me?”

“P! Hello, Aoba, hello!” And before he could get anything else out of them they rolled and floated out of the bathroom.

“Huh. Odd.” He grabbed a towel and patted himself dry, squinting after them. The rabbit cubes had always been a childish, unruly bunch of Allmates, but they never acted without a reason. “Did that seem a little suspicious to you, Ren?”

“They appeared as energetic as they usually are. How are you feeling, Aoba?”

Aoba simply shook his head. His temples were throbbing in the strangest way. Not painful, but thickly, the pulse crushing out most intelligent thought. Not only that, but his muscles now felt downright gelatinous and their aches were quickly coming back. So much for the shower. To call the relief it had given him temporary was a definite overstatement.

“I strongly recommend staying in bed for the rest of the day,” said Ren. “Your fever is nearing its peak, and the infection has shown no signs of dissipating since you’ve bathed.

“Good idea,” he said with a sniff, his traitorous nose swift to return to its leaky state. Wrapping his towel around his torso and praying he had extra boxes of tissues somewhere, Aoba shuffled out of the bathroom. He’d deal with the clothes he left behind later.

It was a sore temptation to simply flop into bed nude, but once back in his bedroom he spent the last of his energy putting on a fresh outfit, Ren staring up at him worriedly through the entire laborious process. Once finished, he crawled under the covers and mentally declared himself completely done for the day.

“Reeen,” he wailed softly as his faithful partner jumped into the crook of his arm and snuggled there. “This really sucks.” He had no problem whining out loud so long as only Ren was around to hear it.

“I know. Please endure the best you can, Aoba. An average cold only lasts seven to ten days.”

“That sounds like an eternity.” He pulled Ren closer. “And I already miss Noiz,” he added very quietly. “How pathetic is that? He hasn’t even been gone for an hour, yet.”

“Well,” Ren hesitated, wriggling in his grip. Aoba’s eyes widened, completely unsure how he’d feel if Ren actually agreed he was pathetic. “About Noiz’s current location…”

“What about it?”

“I never left.”

“Noiz?!” Aoba sat up in a flurry of covers and immediately regretted it when the room spun. He clutched his head to steady himself and stared as Noiz strolled over to him, carrying a tray in his hands and the Usagimodoki orbiting around him like a green and black solar system before they scattered gleefully across the room. His work clothes had been switched with a simple sweatshirt and jersey shorts.

“Why are you still — ”

“Called in sick,” he responded without a trace of repentance in his words. “I don’t know why you’re surprised.”

Aoba rounded on Ren, who was crouched low beside him with his ears pulled back. “And you knew?”

“Noiz said you would not be able to fully enjoy your shower if you were aware that he had decided to remain home today and…I agreed with him.” He gave a sad whimper. “Forgive me, Aoba, but stress does nothing but exacerbate sickness. I sought to act in a way that would be best for you. I acknowledge that I may have miscalculated.”

He looked at Ren, who seemed close to rolling over and showing his belly, then back to a completely unapologetic Noiz sitting at the edge of the bed with the food tray balanced on his lap. To keep from yelling at either of them, he grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it.

“Are…you okay?” Noiz sounded torn between worry and amusement.

“Irresponsible,” he mumbled. “Extremely, crazily irresponsible.”

“No. The company has run just fine without me in the past and does so whenever I’m not there nowadays. The real irresponsible thing,” he added, prying the pillow from Aoba’s fingers and placing it back where it had been before. “Would be to leave you alone when you’re like this.”

“You can’t just cancel a workday at the last minute!” Aoba refused to look at him.

“I just did. Nepotism has its uses.”

“I would have been fine on my own for a few hours, really!”

“You honestly don’t get it, do you?” And now there wasn’t a drop of humor left in Noiz’s voice. Aoba peeked at him when he heard the clink of cutlery against a plate. Noiz was cutting up a small stack of pancakes with a fork, scowling down at it.

“What am I supposed to be getting?” he asked, trying not to sound too sullen.

“You take care of me without thinking twice about it. Every time you’ve helped me with my physical therapy in the hospital, make us meals, teach me things I wasn’t aware of…I treasure all of that. I treasure everything you do for me. Then I try and take care of you in the same way and you tell me that it wasn’t necessary or I didn’t need to go through the trouble. Is that your thing as the older one out of the two of us? That you’re embarrassed to be cared for by a younger guy?”

“I — maybe a little? Maybe. I guess. But I don’t really mean to…” Aoba stared blearily down at his hands, the inside of his head feeling hot and swollen in a way that wasn’t entirely due to his cold. “I’m not trying to push you away on purpose or anything.”

“This is just you being you, huh?” Noiz twisted around and gently pressed his lips against the curve of his neck. Aoba didn’t pull back. He decided it was far enough away from his mouth to be safe enough for Noiz to kiss. “Responsible, independent, big brother Aoba. And, I mean, you actually give in a lot of the time and let me help you out. That’s fine. Just remember that I _like_ taking care of you, Aoba. I really do. Even for small things. There’s no need to be reluctant about it.”

“You’re gonna spoil me rotten at that rate.” Aoba smiled wearily, then sighed. “Sorry for being so thoughtless. I’m trying to ease up more, I swear.”

“I suppose I can let it slide this once, sick as you are.” He could feel Noiz grin against his skin before he pulled away. “Here. Breakfast time. Pancakes are light and the syrup makes it really sweet. You like that, right?”

Aoba nodded and opened his mouth obligingly when Noiz lifted a neatly cut piece of pancake to it with a fork. Unlike most of Noiz’s curious experiments in the kitchen, these pancakes looked completely normal. He couldn’t really smell them thanks to his suffering nose, but Aoba trusted that Noiz didn’t get too creative while cooking them.

His reaction when the food touched his tongue was immediate and unfortunate. It tasted like any other pancake he had ever eaten, but his whole body seized up, stomach roiling in absolute rejection of what threatened to enter it. He grabbed a napkin from the nightstand and let the piece of pancake fall into it.

“I promise I just followed the directions on the box this time,” said Noiz, staring at him in shock.

“Ugh,” was all Aoba could say. The thought of swallowing even a nibble’s worth of food disgusted him. “It tasted fine but…nope. Can’t do it.”

“A loss of appetite is common when suffering a cold,” informed Ren.

“He has to eat _something._ ”

“Soup may be easier for him to ingest.”

“That doesn’t sound all that appetizing, either,” said Aoba.

“I don’t know how to make…” Noiz paused. “Whatever. I’ll figure it out when I get to it. Try drinking this.”

He handed him a glass of orange juice. Aoba was able to sip a few mouthfuls, but he still pulled a face.

“I’ll drink the rest later,” said Aoba, setting it down on the nightstand. His mouth simply wanted nothing to do with anything that might go in it.

“No eating, no drinking.” Noiz got up and set the tray on their dresser and returned to the edge of the bed. Aoba felt guilty for letting all of Noiz’s hard work go to waste, but he knew better than to apologize. “What else would you like to do?”

Aoba’s head drooped. “Right now? I just want to sleep for a while.” He let out a soft breath when Noiz’s hands gently cupped each side of his face. They were rough hands, damaged from years of reckless fighting, but Aoba loved them dearly. As much as he wanted to kiss them, he settled for placing his own hand on top of one his and giving it a weak squeeze. “I’m tired, Noiz.”

“Let’s get you settled, then.” He helped Aoba lie down comfortably. Ren moved down the bed and curled up by Aoba’s feet, and a couple of rabbit cubes rolled up to him and nestled into his fur.

“What do you plan to do?” asked Aoba, his eyes already closed. The sheets were very soft.

“I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, then I’ll run out for a bit and get some medicine.” Aoba felt Noiz climb on to the mattress, shifting over Aoba until he was sitting on his side of the bed, back against the headboard.

“Do you know where I put my headphones?” Aoba scooted toward him until his body nudged against Noiz’s legs.

“Somewhere in the living room. I could read out loud to you, if you’d like.”

Aoba smiled and wrapped his arms around Noiz’s waist, pressing his head into his hip. “In German?”

“Of course.”

He opened an eye and looked up at Noiz. An Usagimodoki was projecting a few screens in front of him; one was a long document Aoba couldn’t decipher at all, another was an internet article that contained pictures of fancily prepared soups. He had to laugh.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Aoba pulled Noiz’s sweatshirt up until a line of skin was exposed and kissed him there, figuring it wasn’t too risky a spot to get his germs all over. He could feel Noiz quiver ever-so-slightly in response. “I should have said this earlier: I actually do appreciate you staying home with me today. Thank you.”

Noiz hummed, a sound of quiet contentment. “I know. You’re welcome, Aoba.”

He cleared his throat and began to read from whatever document he had pulled up. Aoba didn’t try to translate what he heard. Instead, he shut his eyes again and allowed Noiz’s deep, tranquil voice to comfort all his aches and pains and lead him into slumber.

This kind of peace made catching a cold more than worth it.

 

* * *

 

The next morning Aoba ended up waking ridiculously early. Which, for him, was a little before eight. It wasn’t all that much of a surprise to him, as much as he disliked it. Yesterday, he had only gotten out of bed to swallow medication and choke down a bowl of chicken soup. Chicken soup that probably would have been pretty good if he hadn’t been sick. He suspected Noiz had simply bought the stuff canned, but he didn’t call him out on it. Aoba wasn’t exactly an expert homemade soup-maker, himself, after all. Who was he to judge?

He sat up, blinking groggily as he took stock of his health. Nose still running? Check. Throat still raw? Check again. Head still pounding loud? Also check. He gave an experimental roll of his shoulders, and was pleased to find that it didn’t feel too much like he had gotten beaten up by an entire Rib gang and then thrown under an oncoming bus. At least there was some progress to be found.

However, his cheer was cut short when he heard distressing sounds emanating from the bathroom. Distressing, yet irritatingly predictable. Aoba raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips as he got up and quietly made his to the bathroom.

There was Noiz in front of the sink, doubled over and coughing bad enough to hack up a lung. Apparently, he had been waylaid in the middle of brushing his teeth, because his toothbrush was on the ground, the tiles around it smeared with foam. His Allmates were hopping and spinning madly around him, beeping in acute panic.

“He’s sick! Noiz is sick! Warning! Warning! Warning! Noiz is sick!”

Aoba didn’t have the heart to even think ‘I told you so’ at that moment. He was beside him almost instantly, rubbing his bare back as the last of the attack faded away.

“How are you feeling?” he asked Noiz softly. 

Noiz brushed tears of exertion from his eyes. “Like utter trash,” he said gruffly. “I woke up thinking maybe I just slept weird, but…” He twitched his shoulders, as if he couldn’t muster up the will to move more forcefully.

“Regret giving me all those kisses, now?” The question popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

Noiz gave him a hard stare before kissing him with rebellious enthusiasm, completely throwing Aoba off. He tasted overwhelmingly like toothpaste.

“Not in the slightest,” he said once he pulled back. “Now that we’re both sick we can make out as much as we want. Oh, and good morning, Aoba.”

“You brat! This was your plan from the get-go, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t get mad. My weekend just started, so it’s not like I’m dodging work for this.”

“I can’t believe you! ” Aoba grit his teeth at Noiz’s insufferable smile. It was just asking for a good retort. Before the logical part of his brain could warn the rest of him against the idea, he bent down and scooped Noiz into his arms bridal-style.

“What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?” Noiz threw his arms around Aoba’s neck as if on instinct.

“Shush.” It was certainly not the smartest thing he’d ever done, if his shaking arms were anything to go by, but Aoba put on a smile as if the man in his arms was as light as a cloud as he cautiously carried him back to their bedroom. “Let nurse Aoba help you, today.”

Noiz’s utterly scandalized expression melted into an interested grin. “Nurse Aoba? I like the sound of that. Can I be Doctor Noiz, your amorous boss? I need to call you into my office for a private employee review.”

Aoba had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. “There’s no way either of us are up to role-playing when we both feel this crappy.”

Much to his surprise, Noiz didn’t argue. “Drop me and I take you down with me.”

Aoba snorted. “Don’t be an ass. I wouldn’t do it on purpose. Besides, if I drop you I’m probably gonna end up falling right on top of you on my own, anyway.”

“That doesn’t inspire much confidence in me.” But Noiz clung tighter to him despite his words, embracing him as much as he was adjusting his grip. Aoba wrapped his protesting arms tighter around him in return.

They managed to make it to the bed without a hitch. It was where they ended up spending most of their day; sniffling, coughing, handing each other tissues, and making each other feel better as they endured their sickness together.


End file.
